Standing alone in the crease, John Galloway watched the painful scene unfolding in front of him. The ball that ended Syracuse's season seconds earlier rested on the grass behind him in the net, and Maryland stormed the turf and formed a celebratory dog pile at midfield.
The impact of the hit echoed throughout the Carrier Dome.
Seven minutes into the first game of his Syracuse career, Brian Megill proved he belonged out on the field as a starter. The freshman defender drilled Denver's Alex Drexler along the left sideline, leaving him down on the ground in pain and knocking him out of the game.
Tim Desko watched on the sideline as his dream season deteriorated before his eyes.
He had already surpassed his previous scoring totals for his first two seasons and was determined to get more. But after suffering a knee injury during Syracuse's April 3 contest against Duke, countless attempts to get back on the field were thwarted by additional concerns to his health.
The nerves were uninviting. As Chris Daddio prepared before every game, he simply kept to himself, trying not to think about the magnitude of the game he was about to play in.
The tension felt new to Daddio as a freshman last season. The midfielder from Purcellville, Va., had never played in the Carrier Dome. The college game amplified the stakes and increased the speed of the moment whenever Daddio, a faceoff specialist, entered the faceoff X.
Bobby Eilers Senior, Simsbury, Conn. Bobby Eilers ascended to the top of the ranks in Syracuse's midfield in no time. The former second-liner was selected in the 2012 Major League Lacrosse Draft and was named team captain to start the season. His breakout moment came in last season's New England Lacrosse Classic, when Eilers notched his first career hat trick in a 13-3 win over Providence.
Syracuse completes a fitness training session every practice. A 300-yard shuttle run followed by a mile run.
But 15 minutes after finishing the training at the start of a Jan. 18 practice, the team was asked to run again.
Brian Brecht's promises sounded far-fetched to Tom Morr. The Saints goaltender had never heard of Siena — let alone its lacrosse program — when Brecht recruited him in 2008.
But when Brecht made his pitch, he didn't talk about building a fledgling program. He talked about winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the first time in program history, earning NCAA tournament berths and mounting championship runs in May.
John Paul is a Michigan man. But about a year ago, he almost left the school he loved. The only school he's ever wanted to be a part of.
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